Down The Road Apiece: Live

They Say...

Review by Rev. Keith A. Gordon, All Music Guide

If there were a lick of justice in this wicked world -- and everyone knows that there is none -- Joe Grushecky would be revered as an elder statesmen of rock & roll rather than as one of the genre's most obscure cult band leaders. The Houserockers should be facing the twilight of their musical careers with walls covered in platinum records and mucho dinero in the bank. In spite of the commercial and corporate indifference that he's faced during the past two decades, Grushecky remains one of rock music's greatest treasures. Down the Road Apiece Live is as representative of a live Houserockers performance as you're going to capture on disc. At an age when most men are counting their pension funds and looking forward to playing golf three days a week, Grushecky is still following his rock & roll dream with a fervor and reckless abandon that young cubs less than half his age can't muster. Assembled by Grushecky and his bandmates, Down the Road Apiece Live is as much a career retrospective as it is a performance disc. Of the 13 songs on the disc, some are from the Iron City Houserockers days, a few are from Grushecky's early solo career, and the rest are from his later studio efforts, American Babylon and Coming Home. The album is designed as a straight-ahead rocker, with no fluff and no slow moments -- just high octane, turbocharged street level rock & roll. Behind all of these songs stands a band as polished and as rowdy as you'll find on either side of the Atlantic. Joe Grushecky & the Houserockers don't get the respect that they deserve, but they deserve every ounce of respect that they've earned. If you were to pick one record to explain to future generations what rock & roll was about, Down the Road Apiece Live would be the one to choose.